Online searches for flights plummet
The number of people searching for flights online via Google plunged from over five million in March last year to just 2.4 million last month.
According to data released by Greenlight, the number of flight-related search terms plummeted down to below four million in April 2013, then remained fairly flat throughout last summer but dropped sharply again from September.
By January 2014 there were fewer than 2.5 million searches a month, and the figure fell again slightly last month.
Of the 2.4 milllion searches for flight-related keywords in February, almost a third were for longhaul flights and 15% of searches were for "cheap flights", which was queried 368,000 times.
Not surprisingly then, Cheapflights.co.uk was the most visible website.
The company came top of the paid media listings and second, just behind Skyscanner, in the natural search league table.
Easyjet was the most visible airline for natural searches for flights, coming fifth overall, well ahead of both Ryanair (in seventh place) and British Airways (12th).
For long-haul flight searches, Virgin Atlantic outperformed BA, coming in sixth place, one ahead of its rival.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Marginal increase for New York City tourism in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments